Electrically-controlled valve for hydraulic presses



No. 6l0,524. Patented Sept. 13, I898.

w. B. CLEVELAND. ELEGTRIGALLY CDNTROLLEDVALVE FOB HYDRAULIC PRESSES.

(Application filed Jan. 1, 1-898.)

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IVILLIAM B. CLEVELAND, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO. I

ELECTRlCALLY-CONTROLLED VALVE FOR HYDRAULIC PRESSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 610,524, datedSeptember 13, 1898.

Application filed January 21 1898. Serial No. 667,383. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. CLEVE- LAND, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Cleveland, county of Ouyahoga, and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectrically-Controlled Valves for Hydraulic Presses, of which thefollowing is a specification,the principle of the invention being hereinexplained and the best mode in which I have contemplated applying thatprinciple, so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detailone mechanical form embodying the invention, such detail constructionbeing but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of theinvention may be used.

In said annexed drawings, Figure l represents a vertical section of ahydraulic press provided with my improvements; Fig. 2, a detail view ofthe contact; and Fig. 3, a transverse section of the valve-chamber,showing the valve raised.

The press has the plunger-cylinder 1, the plunger 2, the top platen 3,and upright posts 4 of the construction usual in hydraulic presses. Aconcave bed 5 is secured upon the top platen of the plunger, and a die6, having a convex under side, rests in said bed and may have its upperdie-surface adjusted at any angle in its relation to the upper die bymeans of adj ust-' ing-screws 7, bearing from opposite sides against aprojecting lug 8 upon the end of the die. It may be necessary to haveonelu g and two screws at each end of the die. The concave and convexsurfaces of the bed and die are illustrated ascylindrical but thesurfaces may be spherical, in which case lugs and adjusting-screws atvarious points of the sphere may be employed to adjust the die at theproper angle. The top platen of the press has an upper die 9 securedupon its lower face. A vertically-perforated eye 10 has itsscrew-threaded shank secured into an insulating-plug 11, fitted into theside of the lower die, and a contact-pin 12, having a conical andshouldered head 13 and screw-threaded lower end, slides inIsaid eye andis forced upward bya spring 14, surrounding the pin, and held at itsdesired height by a nut 15 upon its screw-threaded end. A wire 16 issecured to the guide-eye by means of a binding-screw 17 and has itsother end connected to a battery 18 or'other source of electricity.Thewater or other liquid under high pressure is conducted tothe bottomof the plunger-cylinder through a pipe 19, leading from a valve-chamber20, having a pipe '21 entering it from the opposite side, which pipeleads'from the source of liquid-supply under high pressure. A valve-seat22 is formed in the bottom of the valve-chamber, and a wastepipe 23leads from the bottom of the chamber beneath the seat. A hollow valve24: slides vertically within the valve-chamber to fit upon the seat, andsaid valve has an opening in'its bottom (indicated at25) and an opening26 in its side. A primary valve 27 has its stem. 28 sliding through theupper end .of thehollow controlling-valve, has a shoulder .29 upon itsstem, which catches against the top of the hollow valve, and has itslower end fitted to closethe bottom opening in the hollow valve whendepressed. The upper end of the valve-stem is movably con- I nected to alever 30, which is fulcrumed above the valve-chamber and has a weight orspring 31 attached to one arm to depress the arm and a handle 32 uponthe other arm. A bellcrank trigger 33 is pivoted upon the top of thevalve-casing andhas a shoulder 34 upon one arm, which shoulder engages aprojection 35 upon the lever,said projection being indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 1. The armature. 36 of an electromagnet 37 is secured uponthe other arm of the bell-crank trigger. One terminal of the coil of the'electromagnet is connected to the source of electricity, and the otherterminal is connected to a contact 38, secured upon and insulated-fromthe magnet, against which contact a contact 39 upon the lever may bearwhen the arm of the same having the projection is depressedagainst theweight and so as to have the projection engaged by the bell-cranktrigger, the'armature-arm of which is sufficiently heavy to tilt thetrigger into engagement with the projection upon the lever.

In practice the blank or blanks to be pressed are placed upon the lowerdie, which has been adjusted at the proper angle in its rela tion to theface of the upper die. The bandie-arm of the lever is thereupondepressed, closing the valve against the waste-seat and allowing thetrigger to engage the projection. The liquid under high pressure willnow pass through the inlet-pipe, the valve-chamber, and through thesupply-pipe to the plungercylinder, forcing the plunger upward. The

- contact-pin has been adjusted by means of v the lever, which will berocked by the weight or spring. The movement'of the lever raises thevalve-stem and lifts the small primary valve from its seat within thelarge controlling-valve, thereby admitting a small quantity of the waterunder pressure in the valvechamber and under the plunger to escapethrough the opening in the side of the valve and through the hollowvalve and its bottom opening into the waste. This will relieve thecontrolling-valve from a portion of the immense pressure upon it, whichpressure is so great that the force of the weight cannot raise it, andunder this reduced pressure the controlling-valve may be raised by theweight and the waste-opening uncovered, allowing water from beneath theplunger to escape through the waste and the plunger to descend. Thecircuit is broken as soon as the lever is disengaged from the trigger,breaking the circuit at the lever-contacts before the contact 13separates from the upper die, thereby locating the flash at saidlever-contacts instead of at the die-contact, and also preventing wasteof electric energy. By means of this valve-operating device the exactthickness to which the blanks are to be compressed may be adjustedwithout heavy and solid stops on the die to take surplus pressure, andthe blanks may be compressed to a fixed thickness under varying pressureinstead of under a constant pressure, as in presses usually employed,where the press is adjusted to relieve the actuating fluid when acertain given pressure is attained and where the surplus pressure in thecase of a blank which compresses under a less pressure than such givenpressure is taken up by heavy stops which are required to prevent thedies from being forced together beyond their endurance and beyond thedegree of thickness desired for the pressed article. Some blanks, owingto variations in their original thickness and in their density of metal,require varying pressure to bring them to a fixed thickness, whichconditions are provided for by my releasing contact device. The plungeris released at exactly the proper moment by simply adjusting the amountof projection of the contact from the moving plunger, whereby thisexcess pressure upon the articles to be pressed and undue straining ofthe press-frame are avoided.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedfor the mode herein explained. Change may therefore be made as regardsthe mechanism thus disclosed, provided the principles of construetionset forth respectively in the following claims are employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as myinvention- 1. In combination with a hydraulic press, a valve controllingthe liquid under the plun-' ger, and an electromagnet connected to saidvalve to control the same and having a source of electricity for itscoil and having the contact-terminals of said coil respectively upon thestationary and moving element of the press, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with a hydraulic press, a valve controlling the wastefrom said press, and an electromagnet connected to said valve to controlthe same and having a source of electricity for its coil and having thecontactterminals of said coil respectively upon the stationary andmoving element of the press, substantially as set forth. I

In combination with a hydraulic press, a valve controlling the liquidfor the plunger and having means for automatically moving it to open thewaste and for positively moving it to close the waste, a triggerconnected to retain the valve in its waste-closing posie tion, anelectromagnet having one terminal of its coil connected to the press, anarmature for said magnet and connected to the trigger to release thesame when attracted, a contact insulated from the press and connected tothe other terminal of the magnet-coil and supported to close thecoil-circuit when the plunger is at the extreme of its pressure stroke,and a source of electricity in the coil-circuit, substantially as setforth.

4. In combination with a hydraulic press, a valve controlling theplunger-actuating fluid, an electromagnet connected to said valve tocontrol the same and having a source of electricity for its coil, and acurrent-controlling contact device for the magnet-circuit supported uponone of the elements of the press to be actuated by the movable elementof the press at the extremity of its pressure stroke, substantially asset forth.

5. In combination with a hydraulic press, a valve controlling the liquidfor the plunger and having means for automatically moving it to open thewaste and for positively moving it to close the waste, a triggerconnected to retain the valve in its waste-closing position, anelectromagnet having one terminal of its coil connected to the press, anarmature for said magnet and connected to the trigger to release thesame when attracted, a contact supported upon and insulated from theplunger and connected to the other terminal of the magnet-coil, and asource of electricity in the coilcircuit, substantially as set forth.

6. In combination With a hydraulic press, a Valve which closes the Wastefor the liquid from beneath the plunger, a lever fulcrumed to have onearm movably connected to the valve and having a projection upon said armvIO and having means for automatically rocking it to raise the valvefrom its seat, a source of electricity, an electromagnet having oneterminal of its coil connected to said source of electricity and havingthe other terminal connected to a stationary contact, a bell-cranktrigger having a shoulder upon one arm engaging the projection upon thelever, and an armature for the magnet upon the other arm,

WVILLIAM B. CLEVELAND.

Witnesses:

WM. 8120111311, R. N. LOWE.

